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by WittyNameTFM

Chapter 36. Knocking Some Sense

"Heya Sunny!" The cheerful younger girl waved as said girl entered the auditorium.

"Good afternoon, Autumn. How are you?" She asked as she joined her on the stage. "Things have been a little hectic between our last practice sessions."

"I noticed! You normally never get distracted. I've been reading for a backup role in case we need one. Other than that, I've been going for a minor role in the next play." She said with a smile. "I'm looking forward to trying out a bigger role, but I know those are usually reserved for upperclassmen." She sighed.

"Autumn, your skill should speak for itself." Sunny frowned. "I have faith that you could play a lead role flawlessly."

"Aww, thanks." Autumn's cheeks dusted with a faint red. "Maybe you could convince the director." She chuckled.

"I'll definitely bring it up to her." She said with a smile.

"So, what's been going on that you're missing practice?" Autumn asked, following her to the back.

"Well, Indigo is finally off crutches. She's been restless ever since she's gotten the okay to be out and about. She's not fully recovered, so…" She sighed. "I guess I'm just too worried. She's a big girl."

"I mean, it makes sense." Autumn shrugged. "Didn't you say that you had to be called by a passing girl who found Indigo passed out on the sidewalk? I mean if my girlfriend was prone to that level of a panic attack, I'd be terrified to get a random call."

"I suppose, but I just don't want to make her feel like we're babying her…and I think she might be heading there." Sunny looked down with a frown, her brows furrowed before she looked up suddenly. "What did you say?"

Autumn tilted her head. "What do you mean? The thing about being worried about your girlfriend?"

"We're not dating!"

"Oh! My bad. I thought you were." She chuckled. "That's surprising, actually."

"Why is it surprising?" Sunny asked, blushing lightly. "We're just friends."

"Really? I always got the vibe you and her were a thing. Especially after meeting her. She seemed jealous when I asked to hang out." She thought aloud. "Not in a bad way. Just making a note of it."

"Indigo? Jealous?" She scoffed with a chuckle. Knowing how confident Indigo was-. She looked down in thought, cupping her chin. "Hmm…" Had she been presented with this a few months back, she wouldn't believe it. Though knowing the girl as she did now…

"Eh." Autumn shrugged with a giggle. "Maybe I didn't read the vibe correctly. She seems really cool, though."

"She is. I doubt she was jealous, though I could understand why you think that. Before I got her to open up, she wasn't able to keep friends. I could see her feeling like she was losing someone…" She thought aloud. "She keeps too much to herself."

"Hmm. I've heard rumors about her. I never really got the chance to talk to her outside of the times she came to pick you up." Autumn said. "Heard she avoids people outside of her group."

"What kinds of rumors?"

"Well, a lot of them were obviously just mean lies. But a couple that I heard were like 'she was abused at home', um…'she's violent and has a temper', and like…well, a lot of them were negatively referring to her being gay." She frowned.

"Who?" Sunny asked, clenching her fists.

"I didn't know them." She said, raising her hands in defense. "It was two guys from the football team. They didn't understand why she wasn't interested. You know, typical jock douche behavior."

"Hmph. They'd better hope I don't find out who it was." She huffed.

"You're quite protective of Indigo. I'd figure it'd be the other way around." Autumn said.

Sunny let her fists drop. "I'm…I'm just tired of her having to put up with so much." She sighed. "She doesn't deserve the trouble she has to go through. The abuse thing was more true than rumor."

"Oh…" The younger girl frowned.

"She hobbled around the school with bruised ribs for weeks, worsening them every practice she went to. She competed at the friendship games with them." She sighed. "She took a really bad spill off her bike. She blacked out for a few seconds…" She looked off, past Autumn. "She's been through more than most people…and she still tries to be so optimistic. I just…I want to be able to do more than just 'be there'."

"I think…sometimes that's more than enough." Autumn said with a small smile. "I know that if I were in her position, I'd be happy to have that person to lean on. You don't have to be the solution to all her problems, you can't be that, but you can be the person who helps her find those answers."

"Thanks, Autumn. That's what I hope I can be."

"I think you're doing pretty good." She pat Sunny's shoulder with a grin.

Sunny took in a breath, exhaling slowly. "I needed that, thanks." She smiled softly. "We have to get to practice at some point…let's go."

---

Lightning struck the punching bag time and again. The music in her ear urged her forward until a sudden chill in the room brought her to a stop. She glanced behind her. A young woman glared at her wearing a familiar purple and magenta uniform. Her white hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. "Dust."

"Oh, uh, yeah?" She asked, turning to face her fully.

"You took out our soccer captain."

"That was an accident, and I already apologized to her." Light tensed, the guilt wasn't completely gone. "Who are you?"

"Don't even take the time to remember people you play against? Name's Royal. Royal Authority."

"Alright, Royal. Is there something I can help you with?" She asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"You can meet me in the ring." She pointed behind her at the boxing ring. "It doesn't matter if you apologized to her. She's soft, of course she'd accept it. I'm gonna knock you down a peg."

Light sighed. "And I can't talk you out of this?"

Royal turned to head to the ring.

"I don't think they even like people sparring for real in this gym…" Light called from behind her.

The taller girl sighed again, stepping up to the ring. Royal was pulling on a pair of boxing gloves, Lightning waited, readjusting her own.

"So, how are we doing this?" Light asked, crossing her arms.

"We go until one of us quits." She huffed. "Put 'em up."

With a few quick steps, Royal was already in her face, a soft left jab hiding the true force of the overhead right. Light took the strike directly, backing up as the shorter moved in for another shot to the stomach.

Light felt the wind escape her, but spotted an opening. Blocking another shot, she shifted her weight, throwing a strike over Royal's left arm and directly across her cheek. The white haired girl slipped back showing obvious signs of suppressing the pain.

By the time she returned her focus to the blonde, she ate another strike to the opposite cheek and an uppercut to knock her to the mat. The multiple strikes Royal had landed hadn't seemed to phase Lightning, but three strikes and she was looking up at her?

Anger pushed the girl back to her feet. She charged in, feigning a right before bringing a left uppercut and a right hook. Light was pushed back again, multiple quick jabs forced her to block, though that opened her midsection, which Royal took to with no hesitation.

Light felt the wind leave her with each hit, Royal was more skilled than her average opponent. She wasted few chances and jumped in whenever she felt one open. She had to be trained to some extent. The taller girl pushed her back, taking in a breath. The pain seemed to fade as she returned to her guard.

Royal blinked, stepping back. 'How does she still look so unaffected?' She asked herself, her own face and stomach aching. 'She has a solid punch…but I'm-I'm better. How?' Her eyes had to be playing tricks on her. Light looked as if she hadn't even been touched…much less clocked by three knockout punches.

The blonde rolled her shoulder before stepping into another strike, Royal redirecting it as she brought her counter up, but faster than she could even react, Light's eyes snapped to it, she leaned back, getting barely grazed from the glove.

She stepped back again, though Light followed with a straight right jab, Royal hopped backward again, but felt the ropes hit her back. Nowhere to go, she ate another hook, going down to the mat.

The fight had left her by now, but she couldn't let her get away with hurting her captain…and just disrespecting her like she did.

"You okay?" Light asked, kneeling beside her.

"Get away from me…" She grumbled, pushing up to one knee.

"We can call it here. I don't wanna hurt you."

"As if I'd let you leave…" Royal huffed, moving to stand, having to quickly grab onto the ropes to keep from falling.

"You're on jelly legs, dude. C'mon now." She sighed.

"One mistake. You're not more skilled…"

"I never claimed to be! Plus, one mistake is all it takes to win a fight, no matter who you're facing." She groaned. "Don't hurt yourself because of stupidity. Fuck this, I've entertained this for too long anyway." She turned to leave the ring.

"Don't chicken out." She huffed, standing more firmly, facing her again.

"I'm done with this. Whatever hang ups you have with me stops here. Got it? Next time I won't be so nice."

The shorter girl watched as Light exited the ring, unstrapping her gloves. As she tried to catch her breath, she tried to replay what just happened in her head.

'I know I caught her at least twice… She didn't even stagger.' She panted, ripping the gloves off of herself. "How? How is she not feeling any of that? That girl is unreal…"

Lightning shot her a glance as she grabbed her stuff, turning to leave the gym. She took out her phone, typing as she walked. 'Hey, Indigo. You may have to talk to one of your teammates.'

'What do you mean?' Came back the response, Indigo sitting up on her bed, confusion washing over as she read back the message.

'Some chick named Royal just challenged me to a sparring match.'

'She what?' Indigo asked, sighing. "Come on, dude. You said you'd let it go…"

'I knocked her loopy, but I don't think she seems the type to let things be…so I figured I'd let you know. Said she was gonna get me back.'

'Ugh. I'm sorry about her. I thought we had already discussed that. I'll handle it.'

'She seems persistent. Good luck.'

'Yeah, she's hard headed…but I don't think she's all that bad.' Indigo groaned. "Fuck." She fell back on the mattress.

"Something wrong, kiddo?" Solar asked, stopping in the open doorway.

"Oh, sorry. It's nothing." She sighed again.

"Doesn't sound like it. Wanna talk?" He offered.

"Just…this chick from my old team. She's holding a grudge on Lightning for what happened." She said, "I don't get it. She didn't even care about me beforehand."

"Maybe things changed when she actually saw you get hurt?" He asked. "But you can't exactly make her get over it. Maybe you'll have to reassert your opinion on the topic."

"Well, she just got her ass kicked by Lightning because of her stubbornness." She crossed her arms. "Maybe that'll make her back down."

"A bruised ego could only lead to worse ideas, I'd suggest not letting that linger too long before talking to her." He said. "You've got a good head on your shoulders, however things go, I know you'll have done what you could."

"Thanks, Solar. I appreciate that, even if I'm not sure what to do just yet." She grinned. "I can always blame you for the confidence boost later on."

"Ugh, you're learning too much from Sunny." He chuckled.

Author's Note:

Hope you enjoy this one, got a little bit of action and hopefully some decent to good character interactions. Thanks for reading!

Comments

[Danyram1308]

good chapter

[WittyNameTFM]

11621376
Thanks for reading :D

[The Sleepless Beholder]

Interesting match, and Sunny being confronted by reality now XD Hoping the best for these two. And also hoping Royal can let go.

[WittyNameTFM]

11621428
Thanks! I realized that there hasn't been many fights in this one. Maybe I'll add in some more conflict.